Thumb index for books and the like



Aug 30, 1955 K. l.. scHlFF 2,716,562

THUMB INDEX FOR BOOKS AND THEKLIKE Filed June l1, 1952 l l gi a NM `will" F z lmnmmmumlmnn um n, M /2 United States Patent O THUMB INDEX FORBOOKS AND THE LIKE Karl L. Schil, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application June 11, 1952, SerialNo. 292,888

4 Claims. (Cl. 283-42) The invention relates to a thumb index for booksor the like, that is to an alphabetical, numerical or other index havingthe indicia at the endsv o f notches which are cut into the free marginsof the book pages.

Thel object of the invention is an. improved relative arrangement ofsuch notches and/ or arrangement of the indicia on the notches. so as tofacilitatey inding a desired section.

The known thumb indexes have either all indicia facing in the samedirection or in one part of the book, for instance the first half, theyface in one direction and in other part, for instance the second half,they face in the other direction.

The shortcomings of these known arrangements are that with the book openor on its front, certain ones or all of the indicia face away from theonlooker so as to require for their detection the turning over of thebook entirely or in part.

So as to overcome this disadvantage, many books, especiallydictionaries, have printed along the index margin of each page thelocation of the indicia which, when the book is open, face away from theonlooker. This system not only means a great amount ofcareful printingso that the marginal printed indicia line up with the thumb indicia, butit is also unsatisfactory insofar as the margins of the pages changetheir relative positions, thereby largely defeating the purpose of thisknown system.

The invention overcomes the shortcomings of the known indexes byalternating the direction in which successive notches and their indiciaface so that for instance one notch faces toward the front, the notchesflanking it face toward the back, and so on.

It is not necessary, and sometimes not desirable, to carry this schemethrough from one end of the index to the other. At the front and therear of the book, or for a series of sections each having onlyrelatively few pages, a few adjacent notches and indicia, say two orthree, may face in the same direction.

The new index will permit the easy nding of any letter, number or thelike at whatever page the book may be open. If a letter or numeral doesnot face the reader, he will still iind it without ei'rort as beinglocated between the exposed, immediately preceding and following lettersor numbers.

A further feature of the invention consists in the arrangement in pairsof successive, oppositely facing notches so that the two notches of onepair register fully or in part. This results in a shortening of thetotal length of the index and often will permit the location of allindicia in one continuous, double row where two successive rows wouldcustomarily be required.

The indicia facing in one direction may show in easily distinguishableform, such as byy smaller type or different color, the next adjacentindicia facing in the opposite direction, thereby facilitating stillfurther the use of the index. This would also allow the application ofthe invention for indicia having no well known sequence.

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The use of the novel index may also be facilitated by providing on theconical surfaces of the notches, that is on the free edges of the pages,duplicates of the respective indicia found at the ends of the notches. n

Several embodiments ofthe invention are illustrated in the attacheddrawing, in which:

Figure l is a perspective of an open book provided with one form of thenovel alphabetical index;

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the book shown in Figure l, in closedposition; i

Figure 3 is an end elevation similar to Figure 2, illustrating a secondvembodiment;

Figures 4 and 5 are larger-scale fragmentary perspective views seen fromthe lines 4-4 and 5-5, respectively, of Figure 3 and in the directionofthe arrows thereon;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary elevation similar to. part of Figures 2. and3, illustrating a thirdy embodiment;l and Figure 7 is a largerscalefragmentary perspective view seen from line 7 7 of Figure 6 and in thedirection of the arrows thereon.

The books illustrated in the drawings have a front cover 3, a backcover4 and pages 5. The pages have free margins 6.

The book shown in Figures l and 2 has cut into the free margins 6generally conical or similarly shaped recesses or notches 7 and 8, atthe ends of which are the indicia 9 and 10 respectively. There is onenotch for each letter of the alphabet. The notches 7 face toward thefront cover 3 and their indicia 9 toward the back cover 4, while thenotches 8 face toward the back cover 4 and their indicia toward thefront cover 3. The notches 7 for the irst three letters of thealphabet-A, B, and C-face in one direction and the last three notches 8for the last three letters-X, Y, and Z-all face in the oppositedirection. The notches 7 and 8 for the letters D to V between theaforesaid notches for the end letters A, B, C and X, Y, Z, respectively,alternate in direction.

With the book opened, for instance, as shown in Figure l at the letterK, it is easy to nd any other letter without having to turn the bookover. About half of all the letters are visible because they facel theonlooker, and any letter not facing the onlooker is found without.effort because it must be at the notch between the adjacent visibleletters. For instance, notch 8 `for letter D is, of course, between thetwo adjacent visible indicia 9 for the letters C and E.

While Figure l shows thearrangement of the notches 7, 8 in twosequential rows, Figures 3 to 5 illustrate a modified arrangement inwhich the corresponding notches 107, 108 of adjacent indicia 109, 110are arranged in pairs in one double row, and in which the two notches ofeach pair register approximately 1n plan view, that is both have thesame distances from the upper and lower margins of the pages.

Figures 4 and 5 show at the bottom of each notch in large type theletter of the alphabet relating to the respective notch, whereas theletter of the registering notch is shown in smaller type. This might becompared to the inscriptions on the keys of typewriters with upper andlower case letters or signs.

The embodiment illustrated in Figures 6 and 7 diifers from the precedingembodiment by a partial registering only of pairs of successive letters,so that a continuous index row is obtained. In this case, the letterappearing at the bottom or end of each notch 207, 208 is repeated at 11on the inside of each notch. This last-named feature permits easyselection of a notch the letter at the bottom of which faces away fromthe reader.

The same system, applied in the illustrated embodiments to analphabetical index, may be applied to a numerical index or to any otherindex in which the sequence of the indicia is known as a matter ofcourse.

e The invention as illustrated and described is susceptible of furthermodiications and adaptations. For instance: the number of the indiciafacing in the same direction at the ends of a book or the like may bevaried; the direction in which the indicia face need not alternate foreach single letter or number but throughout or at certain parts of abook, a few adjacent indicia may tace in one direction if doing soshould be found desirable for one reason or another; and the differentdisclosed features may be employed separately or in ditferentcombinations.

What is claimed is: l. Thumb index for a book and the like composed of amultitude of stacked sheets; notches cutting transversely to said sheetsinto and extending part way across one free margin ot said book and thelike, and each notch providing an indicia-bearing end face; at leastsome of said notches being arranged in a row extending generally at anangle across at least part of said free margin; adjacent notches in saidrow having their said end faces oppositely directed, extending intodifferent parts of said edge, and being of a length providing goodvisibility of their said indicia-bearing end faces, so that in any openposition of said book and the like certain ones of said indicia-bearingend faces are turned toward and the others away from an onlooker therebypermitting the convenient locating of all indicia.

2. Thumb index according to claim 1 having several successive ones ofsaid indicia-bearing end faces of said notches near one end of a bookand the like turned in the same direction away from said end while thesaid end faces adjoining toward the middle of said book and the likealternate in direction.

3. Thumb index according to claim 1 having adjacent notches, when viewedvertically to said sheets, overlap each other at least partly and extendin opposite directions away from their respective indicia-bearing endfaces.

4. Thumb index according to claim 1 having at least certain ones of saidnotches arranged in pairs and extend in opposite directions away fromtheir respective indiciabearing end faces, the notches of such pairsregistering with each other when viewed vertically to the pages of thebook.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS197,345 Denison Nov. 20, 1877 396,318 Butler Oct. 7, 1884 1,659,067Adams Feb` 14, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS 9,690 Great Britain June 23, 1890

